Job satisfaction of frontline employees is often influenced by their relationship with their managers. New research, however, reveals that frontline employee job satisfaction can also depend on how well their managers work with their own bosses. This ‘trickle-down’ effect of relationships is especially potent with women middle managers.

For middle managers, behavioural integrity — the perception by subordinates that management behaviour matches their words — is a key factor for success. Unfortunately, organizations often undermine their middle managers’ behavioural integrity with contradictory policies and decisions — or policies, directives or decisions for which they never acquired middle management buy-in.